Is "slave labor" a rite of passage for DM candidate?

[DevonDiver]

The shop I used to work at never had the divemaster candidates cleaning wetsuits or toilets or working around the shop, those were my tasks as a shop employee.

The point of some DM internships being to prepare a DMC to become a shop employee.

Now in terms when it comes to DM's being slaves I used to joke with a DMC that I was instructing that DM's should be called IB's or instructors b*tch, cause as a DM they were always going to get stuck with the crap tasks ie. tying floats to training platforms, logging everyone in and out of the water, getting stuck trying to get the slow poke student in the water.

I can't help but think, if you think those are horrible chores, that you'd seriously struggle to maintain motivation as a DM/Instructor in many parts of the world.

To me, and I think the DM course materials, those are pretty standards tasks for a dive pro.

If the DM course provides a fantasy versus fact reality-check, then it does a great service to the potential DM. Anyone who enrolls on the course thinking that they're gonna be some sort of 'dive god' needs that wake-up call. I think this stems from the 'customer perspective' of dive pros. Kinda like the analogy of a 'swan in the water'... all the observer sees is the swan gracefully gliding across the surface of the water. Under the surface however, those legs are pumping furiously to drive it onwards.

Where DM courses fail to rectify delusion of grandeur, or a perception of the 'easy life', they only serve to create dive pros who will afterwards struggle to provide a work ethic and quality of service.

Do those tasks suck yeah they do and I can say that even as an instructor I got stuck doing them a few times when I was the low man on the totem pole that day.

All I can say is: make a comment like that in a job application and see where it gets you

But as I told that same DMC when you work your way up the ladder you don't get tasked with all the crap jobs and if you choose to go through an instructor course you then get to pass the crap jobs on to someone else.

Where DO you work? LOL

 

[k ellis]

Part of what gets me is like Devon said so many people think going pro will make them a scuba God. If you want to be a diver and enjoy the water their is little need to go past rescue diver. But if you want to go hands on with students and devote a lot of time to watching them grow Divemaster is a good answer.

The thing about divemastering is its like watching COPs. We see 30 minutes of foot persuits and traffic chases with bone crushing endings and dealers get busted and prostituts going to jail. Even the exciting and often hilarious to watch (But not be involved in obviously) drunk drivers who if all goes well will end up crashing their car and not hurting anyone else or their property. But what you dont see is how those exciting moments on film result in 4 to 6 hours (And many times more for fatalities) of nothing but paperwork and hours spent waiting in a court room and many times not be called for several days though you have to show up and be ready to testify.

Divemastering is in many ways the same way. When a boat is scheduled to go out at 8 a.m. there are times the Divemasters are there at 630 checking tanks to make sure they have air, getting paperwork ready and helping prepare the boat with the captain. There have to remember what every one else may forget such as spare gear. Then when they are on the boat they are responsible for an entire group so its possible that they spend more time trying to keep up with newbies then they do actually fun diving. and when its done they have to account for all the rental gear and make sure its maintained and organized and prepped for the next day so they will be ready to just walk in and start all over. 2 40 minute tank dives for free often results in hours of prepping and baby sitting. So if one is not naturally inclined to take a teaching role and a leadership role then they will actually loose out on the divemaster role.

 

[DevonDiver]

Agreed. If a DM internship educates potential dive pros about the reality of working in the scuba industry, then it's obviously succeeding in it's goal. Being a dive pro involves a lot of manual labor, dirty tasks, early morning, late nights... and, sometimes, quite a bit of boredom. To focus training only on the dive leadership and instructional assistant elements of the role is merely the tip of the iceberg. It's ok for the 'dilettante', but not sufficient reality-check/experience-base for the candidate who harbors true interest in the scuba industry.

To me, that's the difference between a DM 'course' and a DM 'internship'. The former teaches how to do the in-water DM stuff. The later teaches how to work as a DM in the industry as a professional.

There can only be confusion between the two options, when a candidate is foolish enough to believe that DMs, working in the industry, only do the in-water (fun) stuff.

For what it's worth - I don't count the 'part-time' hobbyist DM/Instructor as 'professional' (in the sense, it is their 'profession'). Turning up at a dive-center for a couple of weekends a month, on an ad-hoc basis, to lead dives/teach courses isn't the same as full-time employment in the industry. Thus, working expectations are likely to be very disparate between a hobbyist dive 'pro' and a career dive pro.

I'm pretty sure that this difference is a primary factor in the different perspectives we see in this thread...

 

[Hawkwood]

...Turning up at a dive-center for a couple of weekends a month, on an ad-hoc basis, to lead dives/teach courses isn't the same as full-time employment in the industry. Thus, working expectations are likely to be very disparate between a hobbyist dive 'pro' and a career dive pro...

I think that is the crux of the matter when it comes to how a lot of discussions evolve in both the Going Pro and Instructor to Instructor forums.

Bill

 

[supergaijin]

I have worked a bit in SE Asia (Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia). What I noticed especially in Thailand (Koh Tao) was DMc's being ridiculed and "hazed" by instructors. Even though I'm from NZ, I can try to liken it as a US sorority-type relationship. The DMs were paying customers and I think this kind of attitude is blatantly wrong. I loved it when the instructors would justify this attitude by saying that they "did the hard yards" themselves. I actually did my DM with a couple of these guys and know this to be untrue. They just are trying to boost their own credibility. Ask them to fill tanks or even change a yoke reg to a DIN and they're lost. As DevonDiver (I think) pointed out, there is local labour for the "hard yards" and the DM/Instr concentrates on their own work.

Internships used to mean (before my time) that a DMc would work in lieu of paying for the DM license. This system worked well and produced some excellent DMs and subsequent instructors who I have had the pleasure to work with and learn from. They know the ins and outs of the diving industry blindfolded.

Nowadays, internships are a form of getting labour for even cheaper. There are other types of "volunteer" programmes around the world where the volunteer has to pay for the privilege of volunteering their labour. These programmes are sometimes advertised on the PADI employment board.

Finally, Dive Centers can only work as a team effort. Somebody has to clean toilets. If you're lucky enough to be on an "old school" internship, you'd be expected to be doing this kind of menial labour in return for your DM license.

If you're paying for a 3 month DM programme, washing toilets should not be part of the programme but would be appreciated all the same. You'd be more accepted as a "team player" and looked upon more favourably for future employment.

If you're doing a one week DM- there shouldn't be enough time in your day to wash anything- maybe just yourself at the end of the day before hitting the books.

 

[ScubabunnyCR]

It should not be "slave labour". For an internship its an essential part to learn about the ins and outs of running a dive shop or resort, like tank filling or equipment repair but not to be a general dogs body!! Here with new DMTs we stress that , especially with regard to team work and the role and responsibility that everyone has. I am aware of dive resorts that will use DMTs as free labour but for the majority not. Check out with previous trainees at the shops you are looking at to see what they say before you sign up! God luck and have fun "going pro"!!!

 

[weaserm99]

Devon, I was teaching in buffalo ny, tasks that I mentioned are the crap jobs in October when the winds are whipping and the water is 40 some degrees. Getting in the water a half hour to 45 minutes before everyone else can be brutal even with a dry suit. Sitting on shore with 30 mph winds, below freezing temps and rain logging everyone in sucks, especially if you are only on shore duty that day (only happened if we had a large group of 20-30 people)

However in the summer when it is warm it is nice to get in the water before everyone else especially if it is a rare day in buffalo when it is super hot. And as for logging people in and out of the water, I used to volunteer for it when the boat was full, it let everyone else get into the water and when I along with whoever I was diving with got into the water there was no one else left on the boat so we weren't bumping into everyone else on the boat.

I'm not saying that being an instructor or divemaster sucks, it was one of the best jobs I've ever had, I'm saying that most people don't realize that there are tasks that are not the most fun and people that are looking at going into divemaster courses need to realize that as a new dm or new instructor they are going to get assigned those tasks.

To be honest with you I think working and teaching in buffalo where we deal with some pretty bad conditions would better prepare me to work in many other places around the world.

 

[DevonDiver]

Devon, I was teaching in buffalo ny, tasks that I mentioned are the crap jobs in October when the winds are whipping and the water is 40 some degrees. Getting in the water a half hour to 45 minutes before everyone else can be brutal even with a dry suit. Sitting on shore with 30 mph winds, below freezing temps and rain logging everyone in sucks, especially if you are only on shore duty that day (only happened if we had a large group of 20-30 people)

A matter of perspective... to me, being in the water, or on the boat...is always the 'nice' stuff. I used to dive in the UK, including the north of Scotland, so I can happily count cold water/wind/freezing temps amongst my experience pool.

This goes back to the 'hobbyist versus career' dive pro issue. The 'worst' tasks a hobbyist pro might encounter might be some inclement weather and surface cover. A full-time pro has a gamut of additional, non-diving specific, tasks that are essential for basic dive center function, but are even less glamorous and enjoyable.

I'm not saying that being an instructor or divemaster sucks, it was one of the best jobs I've ever had, I'm saying that most people don't realize that there are tasks that are not the most fun and people that are looking at going into divemaster courses need to realize that as a new dm or new instructor they are going to get assigned those tasks.

Sometimes it does suck. That's the truth. But you've got to take the rough with the smooth. Again... hobbyist versus full-time makes a big difference in the scale of 'suckyness'.

I once spent virtually 5 whole days without sleep - during a typhoon, keeping our boats from getting smashed and our dive shop flooded, hammered by wind and rain and waves...exhausted.

I once spent a week shivering and grey on a dive boat and in the dive shop, when a Dengue outbreak hit the staff (me included)... but work had to go on...because you couldn't cancel diving for people on their once-a-year dream holidays.

There's been many times when I've worked 7 days a week for months on end... no rest days....turning up hours in advance of customers for their 'early am' dive...and working late into the evening, long after the night divers had departed... every day having to muster the energy, enthusiasm and civility that customers expect.

Once a beloved customer 'blocked' the toilet at the dive center. The compressor guy was filling tanks. The boat guy was loading the boat. The DM was briefing customers. Everyone was on a tight schedule. Who was free to fix it? ME.... the dive center manager.

To be honest with you I think working and teaching in buffalo where we deal with some pretty bad conditions would better prepare me to work in many other places around the world.

Weather/conditions is a tiny part of the overall scope of the job.... don't over-estimate it. Tropical destinations may appear 'easier' on that small scope of comparison... but there's a hundred other factors that need to be accounted for. The big ones are the volume and nature of customers.... very demanding, very pampered.... overwhelming in numbers.... and often very incompetent in their diving skill. It can be one long headache...very stressful... and demands exceptional time management, the patience of a saint and an extreme amount of endurance. You just don't get that sort of 'market' in cold water destinations.

Cold weather isn't nice... but I honestly think I shiver more during a Philippines' monsoon season than I ever did tucked up inside a drysuit,with a hot drink close to hand, in the UK. You'd be surprised how much colder you get when sleep deprived and exhausted...

Trust me, there's a lot of times I look at my counter-parts working at home (USA and UK) with a certain amount of jealousy... much less time-induced pressure, better pay and conditions, better employment/rights protection, lower customer volumes, days-off, evenings off, better work-life balance, no typhoons or monsoons, less demanding customers and a more defined job description... to the extent that cleaning toilets might seem unthinkable to them...

Regardless of location, as a full-time pro, there's always going to be days where you don't want to be there... and jobs that you don't want to do.

Life's pretty good for me now... I work freelance, doing predominantly technical diving. This brings me back to low customer volume, 'easier' customers and a lot of the 'dirty' jobs have gone... because I charter at centers/boats rather than working in them. That said, there's still an awful lot of work that goes on...and a lot of sleep missed... that the customer would never be aware of.. often travelling over-night between locations/courses and missing sleep... having to work for hours after diving ends to process videos/photos for the customer, and maintain equipment and maintain the website/blog/FB media, and answering emails,and processing certifications. I often work evenings also...teaching lessons etc... so the 'invisible' work can last well into the small hours of the night. And then... at 6am... up again and ready to rock with a smile on my face, bags of energy and sufficient motivation to lead and inspire a customer through a demanding course.

 

[bracko]

DMCs should do DM stuff and pay. DMs should do DM stuff and get paid. Now there's an old can of worms.

completely agree actually. It's a course, you pay for tuition and the (hopefully very experienced) instructors time.